10/8/2015

The history of Morling College "For the Highest" written by former
Principal Rev. Dr. Vic Eldridge is now available.
There is a softcover version for $25 or a hardcover version for $48 plus postage of $9.

Contact the Archivist of Baptist History of NSW Society at
Morling College
120 Herring Road
Macquarie Park 2113

Baptist History Australia

Rev John Saunders, Australian Baptist pioneer minister 1834-1847

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************************************************** Feature Article

Men Who Made Their Mark – William Buckingham (Retailer, Benefactor and Baptist Servant) by Ronald Cardwell

When the vacant Buckingham’s department store in Oxford Street, Sydney, burnt to the ground in one of the most spectacular fires seen in the city on ANZAC Day 1968 an era of Baptist retailing finally came to an end. The business had in fact closed a few months earlier and the building was in the process of being demolished. The photograph taken at the time of the fire by the Sydney Sun photographer Russell McPhedran caught the imagination of people worldwide and made McPhedran famous.

If we travel back in history we find that William Buckingham (1854-1928), one of 14 children, arrived in Sydney in 1874, via Melbourne, from Yorkshire, England. One day he loaned a family friend £5 to allow her to buy moneylending and collection of the repayments.

He began to enquire where they could buy various items and Buckingham, with not much retailing experience, looked around for a solution. The enthusiastic Buckingham met a young Thomas Pepper, who initially employed him in his drapery business ‘to learn the business’. After a brief period, the two young entrepreneurs decided in 1887 to set up business as General Drapers and Importers. For the next seven years the business continued as ‘Buckingham and Pepper’, initially at 180 Pitt Street and then at 510 George Street, Sydney.

There appears to have been a desire of the partners to move in different areas however and the partnership was some winter clothes. His ‘benevolence’ became known and other people approached him with similar requests for the loan of some money. With a fixed interest rate of five per cent, money was being repaid at the rate of five shillings a week. The business grew and a horse and trap were purchased for the express purpose of collecting the amounts due. Before long, his brother Tom and four other men were engaged in dissolved. Buckingham commenced trading in Pitt Street and in 1894 he set up at 171 Riley Street, Sydney under the name of ‘Buckingham Palace Emporium’. The store was an institution in Sydney. The building was purpose-built and the business flourished. It contained a modern hydraulic lift, electric lighting and an overhead cash ‘railway’ that was connected to a central cash desk. The mainstay of the business was to be the ‘cash orders’ where customers selected their goods and paid for them at so much a week.

Buckingham and Pepper were close friends. Pepper was a member of the Burton Street Tabernacle and invited Buckingham to the church. Under the ministry of Rev Frederick Hibberd, Buckingham became a Christian and involved himself in the ministry at Burton Street. In 1883 Buckingham married Hannah Gellatly and the family grew– Laura, Hannah, William, Richard and Reg. His wife died in 1918. Buckingham was to become ‘one of the pillars of the denomination’ as mentioned by Rev CJ Tinsley at his funeral.

On 30 May 1901, 15 Baptists met at Buckingham’s home at Gordon Street, Stanmore. Their intention was to form themselves into a church. Names suggested included ‘South Annandale Baptist Church’ and ‘Albany Road Baptist Church’, before the name ‘Stanmore Baptist Church’ was agreed. The financial support of three members, Messrs Yarrow, White and Buckingham, ensured that funds could be sought from the Baptist Loan and Building Fund for the erection of a church.

Buckingham was a wonderful supporter of not only his local church at Stanmore, where he was a deacon (27 years) and a long-time treasurer. On the denominational front, he had an interest in Baptist Missions and was the Mission Committee Treasurer for 15 years. He was a willing financial contributor to new Baptist Churches. Along with William White, Buckingham was responsible for the ‘call’ of Rev CJ Tinsley to the Stanmore Church from Spurgeon’s College in London.

He made his mark in the retail world with his employees recalling that he was ‘always just, with a leavening of mercy. He left behind a name for the highest integrity in all his dealings with business men, and in his family life a blameless name’. His store was the first in Sydney to close at noon on a Saturday, provide an annual picnic day for its staff and provide time off for staff to spend with their family.

In London, at the Baptist World Congress on 18 July 1905, Buckingham delivered an address to those present titled ‘Ethics in Business’. The paper sought to apply Christian principles in business. In part Buckingham said, ‘a conscientious man will make few mistakes if he be guided by that only true standard of right and wrong, the Bible’.

Buckingham was a friendly person who related well to people and was always willing to help if he could. He was well read and fascinated with figures and always sought to deliver an address in a clear and concise manner. As an aside, he was bald and wore a hairpiece, which occasionally fell off when he bent down to pray in Church. This of course was much to the delight of the young boys and girls seated nearby. Outside of family and church life, Buckingham was a sailor, winning many races on Sydney Harbour in his 37-ton yacht Mistral

Buckingham was a person who used sayings to encourage people. One ‘we lead and others follow’, perhaps sums up the life of this early New South Wales Baptists.